Gold
by I'm-Reading
Summary: The night of the Final Battle Harry James Potter disappears. 20 years ago a boy with golden eyes and no memories appears. Time travel.
1. Chapter 1

**Gold**

**AN. There are some minor spoilers for DH so if you haven't read that, why are you reading fan fiction?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize**

**Prologue**

The golden light flowed around the two tall figures. One figure, slightly taller than the other shot a green light at the slightly smaller figure. At the exact same moment the other figure shot a red light from his wand. In a moment the two lights collided reflecting back to their owners. As the green light reflected back at Tom Riddle he collapsed in a heap dead. The red light hit the other figure, the golden light engulfing him, and when the area was clear of the odd light, Harry James Potter was gone.

* * *

**Chapter One**

Lily Evans walked quickly down the hall, and bumped into a tall figure, well his chest really. Her books flew out of her hand and she hastily picked them up. When she was finished she was met by a figure that greatly resembled James Potter, yet he was different. Raven hair fell in his eyes that were untainted by glasses. His hair had the same messy hard to contain style but even as she looked at him, he tried to flatten it down. But the most noticeable difference was his eyes, James Potter's eyes were a pretty shade of hazel, but this boy's eyes were stunning. They were like melted gold and they entranced her, pulling her into them and keeping her eyes locked.

"Miss," he said placing his hand on her shoulder.

She shook her head, the dizzy feeling letting up, though her knee's felt weak.

"Can you take me to the headmaster," he asked.

She nodded still feeling shaky. She turned down the corridor and pointed towards the large gargoyle that stood in front of the entrance to Dumbledore's office. He smiled and patted her on the back.

"The passwords gumdrops," she said.

He walked quickly towards the door, stating the password clearly and proceeding up the steps. Vaguely Lily wondered what was to become of him.

* * *

The seventeen year old jogged up the steps, knocking lightly on the door after which hearing a loud, "Come in."

He opened the door to the office, staring into the face of a man that he seemed to have seen before, but couldn't put a name on. At first the man smiled happily, merry blue eyes twinkling, but then the light faded and the wizened face hardened.

"Who are you?" he said in a voice that was as hard as ice.

The boy considered lying, but he decided to tell the truth.

"I don't know."

The old man looked at him, as if judging if he was lying or not. The boy felt a gentle pressure enter his mind and he pushed it back feebly. The presence drew back, unused to being detected. But whatever it was he was looking for; the man seemed to have found it.

"Do you know who I am?" the man asked kindly.

"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. You are the brother of Aberforth and Ariana Dumbledore, son of Kendra and Percival Dumbledore. You are also the friend of Gellert Grindewald who you also happen to be famous for defeating. You happen to be rather good friends with Elphias Dodge, a boy whom no one would talk to because a rather unfortunate case of the chicken pox. You hold several high honors including: Order of Merlin First Class, extreme Mugwump, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and you also happen to have your name on a chocolate frog card."

Dumbledore stared at him, looking at him with surprise in cerulean eyes. He looked rumpled and it took him a moment to answer.

"How do you know that?"

The boy shrugged, and he looked embarrassed and as surprised as Dumbledore had been.

"I don't know, sir. The moment you asked I just _knew_."

Dumbledore stared at him; and he seemed to see something in the boy's eyes and tone that made him want to believe him.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"I don't know."

"Do you know me?"

The boy shrugged.

"Not sure, it certainly seems so and you look familiar enough. But I don't really have any _memories _of you. Come to think of it, I don't have any memories at all."

Dumbledore seemed to ponder this for a moment, resting his head on folded fingers.

"What's the use of a beozar?" he asked suddenly.

The boy was surprised into answering, "It can cure most any poisons."

Dumbledore mulled this over for a moment, before throwing out another question.

"What's the form of your patronus?"

"I'm not sure, sir."

"Cast one for me then."

The boy nodded, thinking for a moment. But from what he knew you needed to have a happy memory to cast a patronus and he had a rare few to choose from. An hour at the most. But then he thought back to the girl; with her nervous smile and pretty features. Her red hair, he knew red hair somehow. Red hair was familiar, safe, beautiful.

"_Expecto Patronum,"_ his voice wasn't loud but it seemed to ring all the same.

A stag erupted from his wand, rearing his head and prancing around the room. He was beautiful and the boy reached out to touch him, but just as his hand touched the tip of the playful stag's nose, it erupted in blue smoke.

"You're to stay here, under my protection," Dumbledore said suddenly, "You're young enough to be a student here and you could be a useful addition. We'll have the hat here sort you."

Dumbledore reached up for a wizened hat, brown with age and dirt and old and crinkled as anything has ever been, but it smelled of power and age. When the hat dropped onto his head his eyes closed, blocking out the image of Dumbledore staring at him.

_"_Aaah" the hat groaned in his ear, "Another one to sort. But your different you are. You've been wiped. All that makes you who you are is gone."

The hat seemed to sit for a moment.

"Aaaah, no I was wrong about you, you're still you. Well as you as you'll ever be."

The boy found it confusing, but didn't think it polite to say so.

The hat chuckled, but said little on the boy's thoughts.

"You're a hard one to sort. You're everything the founders were looking for. Your smart enough to be in Ravenclaw, loyal enough to be in Hufflepuff, and you have more than enough cunning to be in Slytherin. Oh my, the founders would have liked you."

The boy could imagine the hat rubbing little hands together and it made him chuckle.

"Oh, but bravery outshines it all. We can expect great things from you, my boy, great things. GRYFFINDOR!"

The boy opened his eyes to see the smiling face of Albus Dumbledore lifting the hat from his head, holding what appeared to be a wizard's watch.

"The second longest sorting in the history of Hogwarts. The first was Alicia Dellington, the sweet girl; it took the hat over a half hour to discover that she was a squib. Had no magic whatsoever, the hat couldn't put her anywhere because she didn't belong at Hogwarts after all."

Dumbledore chuckled, coming out from behind his desk.

"One more issue to clear up, my boy. You truly have no idea what your name is?"

The boy shook his head solemnly, raven colored hair spraying out, making him look rather whimsical.

"So I hope you don't mind if we give you a name of your own?"

"No, sir."

"I'm rather fond of the name Evan Harry Alderson, if you don't mind."

Evan smiled brilliantly, showing perfect teeth.

"Brilliant."

"I'll get our Head Girl to show you to the Gryffindor dorms. You'll be starting up in seventh year."

Dumbledore picked an odd gadget that Evan had no name for. He tapped it with his wand, muttering a name under his breath and poking the odd thing again. Red smoke flowed out of the little silver whatsit.

"That should do it then," Dumbledore said.

He sat down in his grand chair and conjured a big purple armchair and Evan immediately settled into it.

"There is a great dynamic for conjuring chairs, you know?" Dumbledore said conversationally.

Evan nodded, as if it was the standard conversation topic.

"It's about preference, of course. But it also requires a focused mind. You are technically turning air into a comfortable chair. This is a quite magnificent one, sir."

"Thank you, my boy," Dumbledore said.

By the time Lily entered the room. It was cluttered with chairs of all different colors and sizes. Two wizards stood in the middle talking calmly as they conjured chair after chair. Dumbledore noticed her standing there and he waved his wand causing the legion of chairs to disappear.

"Miss Evans, this is Evan Alderson. Evan, this lovely young lady, is our Head Girl, Lily Evans."

Evan turned to see the girl that he'd met only an hour ago. There was something familiar about her eyes. He felt like he'd seen that shade of emerald green before. She blushed as she felt his gaze on her face.

"You'll find your things and your trunk will be up in your room, with an unbreakable lock on it. I fear you'll need it. Miss Evans if you would give Mr. Alderson a tour and then show him down to lunch?"

Lily nodded and headed out the door and Evan followed her, waving heartily to Dumbledore and easily keeping stride with the red-head.

"Thanks for giving me this tour," Evan said with a smile as they walked down another corridor and down another flight of steps.

Lily blushed slightly.

"Your welcome," she said, "I'll help you, or get people to help you around to classes. Once you know where you're going. It's not that hard."

He laughed.

"Easy for you to say. You've been going here for seven years."

She laughed, too. Swatting him on the shoulder.

"Come on," she said, "I'm hungry."

* * *

The two entered the hall and came to the first table that had a bright red banners with lions atop it. She slid into a seat next to two girls. They looked up in surprise when they saw Evan. He smiled nervously and they smiled back.

"I'm Evan Alderson," he said.

"Alice Prewitt," one girl said.

She smiled. Alice was soft, with round cheeks and flowing brown hair. She reminded him of someone; he couldn't put his name on.

"Have I met you, before?" he asked her.

She shook her head, brown hair settling around her shoulders.

"Don't think so," she said, piling mash potatoes onto her plate, "Though you look an awful lot like a kid that goes to school here."

Evan looked up in interest.

"And who might that be?"he asked also beginning to fill his plate. He felt like he hadn't eaten anything in months.

"James Potter," the other girl said drawing attention back to here.

She was petite with short black hair that cut off at her chin and shining blue eyes that seemed to be almost white.

"I'm Marlene McKinnon," she said, holding out her hand, Evan took it and smiled and he could swear a hint of a blush crept across her cheeks.

"There he is," she said hastily, drawing her hand away quickly and pointing at group of four boys.

What struck Evan first was the fact that everyone looked up when they came in, conversation didn't stop, but everyone seemed to know when they entered. The second thing he noticed that they were all handsome, in their own different ways. The two in the middle their arms looped around everyone else had the kind of charming look that made all the girls faint. One boy with sandy colored hair had a quiet sort of charm, though the first thing that Evan noticed about him was that scars ran across his face, some new and some old. The last in the group was shorter than and not quite as handsome as the others, but just as charming.

The boys meandered towards the table, one of the black haired boys sliding into the seat besides Lily, though he politely smiled at her, Lily turned away.

Evan leaned in towards Marlene who seemed to see the question before he had even asked it.

"That's James. He's been trying to date Lily for six _years._ She still things he's an arrogant toerag, but he's been better this year. We're all hoping she'll give him a chance. "

Evan nodded, but at that moment the foursome noticed him.

"Oi, James," the other raven haired boy said loudly, "Never told us you had a twin."

Evan turned towards the boys and watched as his _twin _turned as well. The boys crowded in beside him pushing the girls aside and taking their seats.

"So, twin," the other raven haired boy said leaning in, "Who are you?"

"The question is who are you?" Evan said mysteriously.

The boy leaned back.

"This one is good Prongs."

He turned his attention back to Evan.

"Tell us who you are, and we'll tell you who we are."

The sandy haired boy sighed.

"Lay off the poor boy, Padfoot."

"Don't reveal our identities, Moony," Padfoot said seriously, "It's our bargaining tool."

Moony sighed, but remained silent.

"I'm Evan Alderson," Evan said and Padfoot sighed dramatically.

"All was not lost because of you Moony. That's why we got good old Evan here."

He patted Evan on the back and the boy looked at him oddly.

"I'm Sirius Black, that sucker over there is Remus Lupin and that there is Peter Pettigrew. You're twin here is James Potter."

Evan nodded and Sirius threw his arm over him.

"So dearest Evan, what are you doing here?"

Evan shrugged, dang Dumbledore. He would have to make up his own story.

"I've been homeschooled all my life. My parents thought I should be able to socialize more, they sent me to Hogwarts for my last year. Take my NEWTS and all."

"So you've decided to join our fine establishment," Sirius said, stealing a sausage off of Alice's plate.

"Oi," she called from a few seats down.

Sirius winked at her and she stuck out her tongue.

"Have you had the grand tour?" James said cutting in, Sirius perked up at the mention.

"Lily showed me around a little bit before lunch. She said she'd help me get to classes."

James sulked at the mention of this. At that very moment Lily appeared and he perked up, but she didn't spare him a glance.

"Come on, Evan," she said dragging him from the bench, "I'll show you to the Gryffindor dorms. You can get settled in."

"We can take him," Remus said softly.

Lily smiled at him briefly, before shaking her head.

"I'm heading there anyway."

James stood up quickly, "so are we.'

But Lily just turned on her heel, grabbed Evan's hand and immediately started to drag him off towards the Gryffindor tower.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN. Since I see no way I can explain it in this story as Harry does not know it himself, I will try to explain my idea to you. It's not very logical but I will tell you my thoughts. If you do not wish to hear skip past the bolded text and read on. **

**I was reading DH and it said something along the lines of the golden mist surrounded them during the final battle and I thought what in the world is 'golden mist' and it got me to wondering what it was. Was it some mystical power? Was it fate herself come to guide how the battle ended? Was it greater than any other magic? Was it capable of power that was not ventured? I did not know, but I rather liked the idea that I could make something in the books into something of my own actions, I didn't even have to think of some new inventive way to send Harry back in time. So for the point of my story the 'golden mist' is some mystical ancient power and when the spells backfired the stunning spell sent Harry towards it, it evoloped him in it's 'power'. My thoughts were that it cured him of his imperfections (hence his eye sight). Another thought was that it would not leave his mind undamaged, his memories were wiped, which is not unplausible. But instead of being helpless he still has the knowledge. Which is of course all nonsense, but let's just say for the sake of my story, it's plausible I suppose. **

**This is not canon, obviously. I wanted you to know that I am adding scene's where it fits my purpose. It sticks on the plot line but it is not the exact same as the canon. Whatever you make think, I have chosen my pairings. Dun dun duh the pairings are:**

**Harry/Ginny**

**James/Lily**

**And don't fret thought I never plan my stories, the ending will be with these pairings, thought I can't promise the rest of the story....**

**Enjoy!!**

**~I'm-Reading**

It was four in the morning and the hallways lay quiet. Everything was still and the silence seemed to shed a blanket that wrapped the castle in the sense of early morning contentment. Evan let out a sigh laying his head against the stone castle wall. Lily entered the common room, in a dressing gown a book clutched in her hand. She noticed him sitting there on the floor next to the large sat in direct view line of the stairs and he looked up as she entered.

"Are you alright?" she asked softly, bending down next to him.

He nodded slowly. Shifting against the wall.

"What are you doing?" she asked sitting down next to him.

"Listening," he said his voice the barest hint of a whisper.

Lily was silent placing the book down next to her. She closed her eyes and relaxed. The silence seemed to come from all around and surprisingly it wasn't the eerie silence she had expected. It was a peace that only came in the early hours of the morning and it was wonderful. She breathed deeply, her mind wandering aimlessly on topics that ment little. She fell asleep and her head fell onto Evan's shoulder.

He smiled fondly at her. Lily was a wonderful girl. She reminded him of someone. She seemed to embody all the things that he couldn't remember, and it made her very dear to him. Already he had grown attached to her. She was a lifeline and he was lost at sea in a world when nothing was familiar.

He sighed resting his head atop hers and let his breathing even out. Heavens knew he needed the sleep.

The two remained that way as the sun rose above the horizon and flooded the common room with its soft reflecting light. They remained that way as the early risers tiptoed off to an early trip to the library or to go eat. They smiled fondly at the two leaning against each other and moved on their way. They remained that way until the heavy tromp of the Marauders feet on the step awakened them.

It was a Marauders tradition to be loud and unruly on the stairs every morning. To "wake everyone up" as they put it. As the Marauders exited there dormitory they were as different as everyone else had been before them as could be.

The moment they entered the common room they noticed the two figures curled up in the corner as everyone else had. But in the next moment in a blur Evan was on his feet his wand in his hand, golden eyes cold.

"Don't move," he hissed.

The four stared at him in fright and backed away slowly. Lily fluttered her eyes open and stared at him. She was shocked and she placed her hand on his arm to calm him. His eyes flicked towards hers for a fraction of a moment.

"Not now, Hermione," he growled, "They're deatheater scum and you know it."

Evan stumbled back his wand faltering his golden eyes fluttering closed. He collapsed to the floor and Lily let out a cry but he was far away.

_It was the earliest hours of the morning that they came upon them. They came as they slept triggering of alarms as they went. In an instant Harry was on his feet. His wand was pointed at them and for the first time Hermione saw his emerald green eyes grow cold. _

_"Don't move," he hissed._

_The deatheaters were young barely past Hogwarts age a few of which Hermione recognized from her time there. They were trembling with fear and one fumbled for his wand. In one flick of Harry's wand he flew backwards and you could hear a crack as he hit the tree. Hermione was scared she moved forward placing her hand on his shoulder. _

_His eye's flicked towards hers briefly. Her eyes were frightened and scared. Of him, he thought, she didn't understand. He turned his back towards her. _

_"Not now, Hermione," he growled, "they're deatheater scum and you know it." _

_He flicked his wand towards the next deatheater and a large slash appeared across his chest. He collapsed to the ground with an agonized cry. The remaining three deatheaters fell at his wand giving no attempt to defend themselves. It was only when they all lay dead at his feet that Harry snapped out of his craze. He sank to his knees in front of them letting out great racking sobs. Hermione lifted him and lead him into the tent and bade him to lie down. He clung to her and she whispered words of comfort. _

_"I killed them," he cried against her shoulder, "I am as bad as Voldemort."_

_She soothed him rubbing his back._

_"Sometimes it is not our choice to make," she said softly. _

Evan awoke his eyes full of tears and his throat raw. The first face he saw was the face of Albus Dumbledore. He smiled at him kindly.

"Miss Evans will be happy to know you have awakened," he said far too cheerfully for the current situation.

Evan's eyes scanned his surroundings and he winced. All he saw was white and the smell of potions hung in the air, a hospital then.

"May I ask what happened?" Dumbledore said gently his eyes surveying me cautiously.

Evan shuddered back unconsciously trying to forget the memory.

"I remembered," he whispered hoarsely.

"And your life was not to your liking," Dumbledore said leaning forward as if this matter was the only thing that mattered in the world.

"No," Evan said placing his head in his hand, "there was this woman..."

"A woman can do great things in a man's life," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye.

Evan blushed, but shook his head fervently.

"It wasn't like that. She was like a sister, except perhaps even closer. It was only one memory, but we were attacked. And I killed them, I killed them all. They were dead and I killed them."

"Was it your first kill?" Dumbledore asked plainly.

"I don't know. But I think so," he said, "I don't know what I would have done without her. And I feel that now I am perhaps lost with out her."

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair.

"There are many that we lose over the course of our life."

"This is different," he cried, "she could be out there alive. Waiting for me, while I waist my time in this stupid school. What's worse is there could be others that could be as close to me that I have forgotten."

Dumbledore looked solemnly at him from behind his half-moon spectacles.

"Perhaps," he said softly, "It is your curse, and it is a burden you must learn to bear. I can ask only that you make new friends here, I'm sure your old ones would not begrudge you that."

Evan sighed and rubbed his temples working them with your hands.

"Perhaps, sir. They will come find me."

Dumbledore looked at him with age old eyes. He stood gathering his cloak around him.

"I wouldn't count on it."


	3. Chapter 3

**AN. I am SO sorry this is so late, I have no excuse, thought I'd published this ages ago. Merry Christmas!! Hope you enjoy! **

Evan exited the Hospital Wing, his mind full of questions that had no answers. He walked quickly through the halls, making swift turns and skirting through secret passages like he'd been there his entire life. He arrived at the door to the Transfiguration classroom with minutes to spare and entered to find only Lily there. She looked up as he entered and he smiled weakly.

"How'd you get here this fast," she asked, reaching out to embrace him.

Evan shrugged; he didn't remember much about his journey to the classroom.

"Luck I guess."

She looked at him oddly, most likely detecting the lie. She smiled nonetheless patting the seat next to her. He sat down glancing around the room quickly taking in the rest of his surroundings. They were the only occupants besides the young professor that was straightening papers at her desk. As he looked back at her he thought her recognized something in that face. Something in the sharp lines, in the eagle eyes, something familiar stood out to him in the tight bun and slim body.

"What's the professor's name?" Evan asked leaning over to whisper in Lily's ear.

"Professor McGonagall," Lily said softly, returning to the paper laid out in front of her.

The name seemed to stir up something within him, the name was very familiar. Whether that was comforting was debatable. What would he remember? Evan screwed his eyes shut placing his hands over his head trying to block out the memory.

_Pain. Pain was his only thought. It invaded all his senses. His lungs ached, his nose burned, his legs were weary and the pain in his shoulder was excruciating. He winced as his hand brushed his shoulder coming away wet and he lifted it to his face, shocked to see it stained with blood. His shoulder throbbed painfully and he winced. He stepped over another body and knelt down next to a woman lying on the floor. Her breath was ragged but she smiled weakly and moved her hands towards him._

"_Katie," he said kneeling beside the woman, "You shouldn't be here."_

_She laughed weakly and then coughed violently. He laid a hand behind her head helping her up and then setting her head gently back in his lap. _

"_We can't all be the chosen one, Harry, but we all try and do what we can."_

"_I don't want you to die;" he said weakly, "Everyone else seems to have."_

_ "Listen to me Harry," Katie said sharply, "I know we've never been the best of friends. And I wish I could change that now…"_

_She trailed off reaching another coughing fit. _

"_Everything has changed and I know that, but know this Harry. Remember this moment if you remember nothing else about me. We all love you, Harry. You give people hope and everyone here is willing to die for you. Hell, I am dying for you."_

_She was crying the tears making fresh lines that stood out on her blood stained face. Harry lifted a hand to his face and was surprised to find it wet. Katie coughed one more time this time more fiercely than before. _

_ "Keep fighting Harry," she said so softly he wasn't sure if he had heard her. _

_ She closed her eyes then and took one last breath before dying. _

_He turned from her standing up and brushing off his robes, more out of habit than anything, his robes were stained so deeply with blood and grime that it wouldn't matter. He spared a last glance at his friend before turning away for the last time. It was unlikely that they'd have a funeral. Her name would simply be added to the causalities. Tears burned in his eyes yet he wiped them away angrily. There were death eaters to fight._

_He started walking and then the screams started. They were harsh and brutal and they were followed by insane laughter. He started running then his feet pounded against the stone floor. He leaped over a pile of bodies and then kept going. And yet he battled on. It wasn't even a conscious choice. One spell after the other his eyes felt blurred and he reached his hand up to wipe the tears from his eyes. _

_His enemies seemed to fall like dominos against his wand, he didn't look into their faces as he walked past as he once might have, anyone of them may have been one to kill his friends. To kill or be killed._

_The screams haunted his mind and he pushed open the heavy door. A woman stood over a prone body. What would normally be a beautiful face was screwed up in a insane smile. She laughed maniacally, and his face turned into a grimace. There was nothing beautiful about this woman._

"_Bellatrix," he snarled, raising his wand. _

_She turned from the elderly woman lying on the floor to face him. Her dark eyes seemed to brighten in delight and he shuddered._

"_Isn't it wee bitty, Potter?" she mocked her voice high and screeching, grating on his last nerve._

"_Crucio," he called._

_She dodged easily and the sickly yellow spell hit the wall behind her. She smiled in delight._

"_Have you grown up then, Potty? Using grown up spells now?"_

"_Avada Kedavra," he growled, she dodged it again._

"_Crucio," she called and he sunk to the ground._

_It was like white hot knives sinking into his flesh, but he gazed at her daring her to continue. She growled in frustration increasing the spell power. The knives sunk deeper but he lifted his arm, his wand raised. She raised an eyebrow, daring him._

"_Avada Kedavra."_

_She collapsed her eyes wide with shock. The pain stopped, and he rolled his shoulders, immediately regretted it. He rushed to the side of the woman that Bellatrix had tortured, wincing at each step._

"_Professor," he questioned the woman wearily._

_She blinked open dark eyes and her thin lips gave him a weak smile._

"_Potter," she said._

"_You're _not _going to die," he told her._

"_I'm afraid so," she said so matter of factly that it made him want to cry._

"_I've had enough pain in this lifetime. It's time to join them, finally."_

_She closed her eyes and let out a long deep breath that held a note of finality. Harry lay his head down and sobbed. Not really because he would miss his old Professor, though he would, not because he was really surprised that she had died, she'd hung in there for a long time. He cried because everyone he knew and loved was leaving him, layers of his very being stripped away until he was all alone. _

"Evan," Lily's voice came around again, "Are you okay?"

"What happened?" he said immediately.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Lily," she said slowly, and he let out a breath.

"Sorry," he said to her, "I've not been myself lately."

She smiled reassuringly, and patted his back. But her eyes were worried and unsure.

"Good morning class," Professor McGonagall stated, and Evan was surprised to find that the empty classroom was full to the brim.

"Today we will be learning to animate objects. Animation can serve many purposes; is their anyone here who can tell me one of those purposes?"

Everyone seemed to whisper amongst themselves trying to come up with a suitable answer.

"They are best suited to be used in a duel to distract an opponent or to protect yourself from an oncoming spell."

_An old man whirled his wand, dust and glass swirling in the air. He stood against a man with a face like a snake, his view was blocked by a golden statue that seemed to keep him safe from harm, yet trapped him against the wall._

"Very good, Mr. Adamson is it? 20 points to Gryffindor."

"Thank you, Professor," he said, but she had already turned away.

"What Mr. Adamson has said is true; however it also takes a great deal of effort to keep any animation going for long. I would like for you all to try and animate these miniature statues."

Evan sighed, twirling his wand between his fingers, sparks flying out in a rainbow of colors. Twirling it faster, bubbles started to float to the ceiling.

"Don't do that?" she snapped.

"What?" he asked her innocently, but he stopped twirling.

She scowled at the statue the plump Hufflepuff boy had just handed her.

"I'm not that good at Transfiguration," she mumbled.

"Really?" Evan asked, with a crooked smile.

He flicked his wand, with an almost lazy gesture. The miniature dog leaped to his face. Chasing its tail. Lily was too preoccupied glaring at her own statue that she didn't notice the dog until it crawled up her sleeve and licked her ear.

She shrieked knocking the dog towards the ground, where it broke into a hundred pieces.

"Jeez, Lily," Evan said, eyeing the broken pieces of the dog skeptically, "Calm down."

Lily groaned, staring at the tortoise she was supposed to be animating with a death glare. Evan sighed, the memories of the battle still haunting his mind. It was hard to concentrate on something as simple as transfiguring a statue.

"Here," he said, showing her the wand motion again, "concentrate on the statue. Transfiguration is a lot about focus, it isn't like charms where you can just will it with your mind, with no thought whatsoever."

Once he thought she had a handle on the spell he stood.

"It seems a silly spell to know when you sit in a classroom waving your wand at it, but let me show you its use."

He summoned a small statue of a bird, the girl who had been practicing on it giving him a death glare. He simply smiled at her as if he had done nothing wrong.

"Duel me," he said calmly.

Lily looked at him like he was insane.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because," he said, with an impatient sigh, "You need the practice and I will show you the use of the spell."

She put her hand on her lips and stared at him in a way that reminded him of someone else. He just couldn't put his finger on it.

"And you don't?"

"Get in your stance," he said, pulling back his arm holding his wand and setting the bird off to the side, positioning it on the desk.

"Stupefy," he called, a burst of red light bursting out of his wand.

Lily ducked immediately and it flew over her head.

She responded immediately, her wand bursting into action.

"Flippendo," he could hear her mutter.

Harry jumped, the spell pushing the desk behind him out of the way. Lily's eyes widened as his spells came quickly out of his wand, her wand racing to keep up with him. She sent him a particularly nasty hex and with a quick and complex motion from his wand the stone bird leaped into the air, enlarging itself and leaping in front of the oncoming curse. It exploded into a million pieces, spraying both himself and Lily.

Dust seemed to be everywhere, clouding his own vision as well as Lily's. He quickly cast a summoning charm and her wand flew into his outstretched hand.

"Simple," he told her and the assembled class as they all sat watching him in awe, "the charm served to work both it's purposes. To protect me from harm and to distract you, all in one fowl swoop. Now, if the statue had been more durable, mad of say gold-"

The imagine of a golden statue leaping in front of an old man to protect him from a sickly green light once more flashed across his mind.

"-the statue wouldn't have exploded and I would have continued dealing. It's a sort of movable shield."

He could see Professor McGonagall at the front of the classroom with a twinkle in her eye.

"Excellent lesson there, Mr. Adamson," she said, "if I may have a word with you outside of class."

As if her words were magic, the bell rung releasing all the students from the classroom. Lily smiled at him, bending her head and saying, "I'll wait for you outside the door."

"How did you know how to cast like that?" McGonagall said, straightening the desks from where they'd been tossed aside during the duel.

"It comes naturally, m'am."

"Yes," she said seriously, "I can definitely see that."

She leaned against the desk, removing her glasses from the bridge of her nose, so she could replace them from her hand. She suddenly looked so much older than she really was. So more wearied by the world. Evan's mind flashed briefly to the scene of his dying Professor. It was odd that he would compare the two woman, as they seemed nothing a like. But there was a similar look in this young woman's eyes.

"The world needs as many young duelers as we can get, Mr. Adamson."

"I know that m'am. I want to do what I can."

"I know you do, son," she sighed, "What I'm suggesting you do is start a sort of organization almost. A club maybe?"

"A club, Professor? To do what?"

"To duel."


End file.
